Showing posts with label The Electric Mess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Electric Mess. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 March 2020

Big Fox - Emmrose - Fake Shape - The Electric Mess

Big Fox just released the new track 'Let Love In' ahead of her forthcoming album 'See How The Light Falls'. It's a lush piece with layered synth's supporting some beautiful and oh so natural vocals. === Comprising of seven wonderful songs Emmrose has just unveiled her 'Hopeless Romantics' E.P. We featured the title track last November and now we have the full collection. === Alternative Indie band Fake Shape have shared 'It's Easy' which is a combination of dream pop and subtle indie rock and quickly develops that play me again feel. === The Electric Mess wowed us earlier this month with 'Last Call' and if anything have upped the stakes even further with 'City Sun' a glorious rocker, and some!
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Big Fox - Let Love In.

Malmö, Sweden-based artist Charlotta Perers AKA Big Fox returns six years after her last album release with new full-length ‘See How the Light Falls’, produced by Tom Malmros (Alice Boman), along with focus track ‘Let Love In’.

Initially due for release in May 2018, Perers received some news which derailed the campaign. “A few weeks before the album was supposed to be released I was diagnosed with lymphoma,” she says. “It all happened very quickly and it was almost like entering a parallel world with a different time scale, rules and priorities. It felt almost like being forced on to one of those ghost trains in a theme park, going in and out of tunnels and not knowing when or how or even if I would be able to get off.”

The whole process also allowed a deeper sense of perspective to come to light for Perers. “Life suddenly became very intense, very here and now - but that amplified positive experiences too. I realized how deeply our happiness is connected to our expectations. If I didn’t expect or demand things of life I could actually be quite happy just playing Yahtzee all day. But it felt good to know that the album was waiting for me on the other side. It was a reminder of something else, the someone I was outside the hospital.”

Layered with hazy synths, string melodies, and soft effortless vocals; ‘Let Love In’ signifies the feeling of desperately longing to be more open with others, and taking new steps to change that. Fusing classic pop and melodic indie, Charlotta has cleverly created a distinctive sound that is both sophisticated and mature.

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Emmrose - Hopeless Romantics (E.P).

Alt-pop teen artist Emmrose shared her debut EP Hopeless Romantics with the world on Friday. A deeply personal collection of songs reflect on love, heartbreak, and finding your own happiness. Emmrose delivers intense, poetic lyrics and catchy pop melodies, immersing listeners into a deeply emotive world of her own.

"Don’t let bad people stay in your life," reflected Emmrose, speaking both on the content of the EP and her own experiences. "It is possible to move on and find happiness. Don’t let the pain of life over come you and take away your spirit. It’s possible to overcome it. It’s okay to be sad, but just know that this sadness isn’t really ‘you’, and your attachment to people isn’t happy and you can move on." While much of the material reflects on heartache and heartbreak, the ultimate message is one of hope, and learning how to find a way to move on.

Hopeless Romantics embraces the idea of interwoven emotions, memories, and experiences, acknowledging how they can continue to impact an individual as they try to move forward in finding their own happiness. "The song 'Takes Me Back' was written a while after I wrote 'Five Months' even though it is heard as an intro to the song," shared Emmrose. "I thought it fit well since it is the memory of what had taken place in the lyrics of 'Five Months'. It was a pretty dark time for me, and the audio effects highlight the lyrics so well. I’m really proud of that track."

Much of her lyrical and musical inspiration comes while writing alone at home. "I’ll either play chords that come to me, or a melody that’s been ringing in my head. Sometimes I write down lyrics and then set it to music," said Emmrose. Over the course of the past year, she recorded Hopeless Romantics, and a surge of new material with producer/engineer Michael Abiuso (Behind the Curtains Media). "I’ve been working with Michael  a lot more, and it’s been really exciting," said Emmrose, reflecting on her growth. "While experimenting with sounds in the studio, we often find ourselves working on individual creations until ready to share, we then combine ideas to make something really great. Mike will often suggest some crazy ideas, like having me pick up and play an accordion, or belt lyrics into the bell of a tuba as a vocal effect. We always find ourselves doing something kooky and fun in the studio." Their collaborative efforts showcases itself with intricate details on every track, further accenting her soaring vocals.

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Fake Shape - It's Easy.

Fake Shape is an Alternative-Indie band from Hamilton, Ontario that formed in September 2018.

All five musicians offer their own aesthetic, creating music that falls between funk, indie-rock, pop and ambient electronic.

They have been writing and recording at Fort Rose in Hamilton and are getting ready to release their debut EP, Night Swim.

The songs drift through contrasting mindsets and morphing textures like navigating a solitary swim through dark water.

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The Electric Mess - City Sun.

Garage-punk band The Electric Mess share a new single "City Sun" this weekend! Self-described as a dystopian proto-punk ripper, its timing is darkly appropriate, although unintended, with NYC, and the world, coming to a grinding halt over the COVID-19 virus. "City Sun" comes ahead of The Electric Mess' fifth album The Electric Mess V, due out April 17th.

" 'City Sun' is a dystopian tune I wrote about a year ago," reflected front-woman Esther Crow (vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion). "It has some surf elements but also a post-punk vibe, and then a slower, psyched out part with theremin (synth)." While the lyrics reflect darkly, they also provide a sense of hope and ability to overcome. "I think the overall feeling that most of us are experiencing under the current situation and events is what prompted me to write it," continued Crow.

"It specifically refers to the New York City sun, and the setting of the sun/entrance of "the shadow" is a metaphor for the end of the world (as we know it? or...entirely? It's your guess!). Though the song is dark, and times have gotten even darker than when I wrote it a year ago, there's a desperate clutching at HOPE and LIGHT too. The lyrics during the slow/synth part, "what more can I do, here, to keep the light on...in my mind?" reflect a yearning to dig deep inside and stay positive, even though the outside world keeps hurling challenges at us. Ultimately, defeating the darkest elements will depend on fearlessly standing up to evil, and conquering it with love and light. I believe we can do this!"

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Saturday, 7 March 2020

The Electric Mess - Beachtape - Yusuf Sahilli - Brendan & the Strangest Ways - The Hideaways - Clem Snide - Nicole Atkins

The Electric Mess share 'Last Call' where the bands ability to mix up the rock genres results in this glorious hook laden piece. === Beachtape latest song is 'Somewhere Better' which exudes laid back rock grooves. === Yusuf Sahilli shares his first single 'In The City' taken from his forthcoming album. Both vocals and the musical arrangement are refined on this enticing track. ===
Brendan & the Strangest Ways make their second appearance here in less than a month with 'We Can Beat Mercury' another fabulous country rocker. === The Hideaways power up with 'Luminescence' a dominant rocker where even the reprises throb with angst and power. === We have already featured the first two singles and now Clem Snide returns with the third entitled 'Some Ghost' preety much ensuring the forthcoming album 'Forever Just Beyond' is a must hear. === Finally today we have Nicole Atkins and 'Domino' a fabulous modern pop song with an addictive groove throughout.
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The Electric Mess - Last Call.

NYC's rock & roll outfit The Electric Mess serve up a vibey, dark psych-pop single and accompanying music video titled "Last Call". A haunting chorus and memorable break combine for an immersive tune. It comes off their upcoming fifth full-length The Electric Mess V (Soundflat Records) due out April 17th.

"Last Call" opens with a bright guitar lick, quickly moving into an addictively catchy bass groove. Vocalist/keyboardist Oweinama Biu wastes no time jumping into a lyrical tale - pulling listeners ever deeper. "Last Call is dark and poppy, and gets great reactions at our shows," shared the band, making it a natural single ahead of their upcoming release.

Guitarist Dan Crow wrote the song a number of years ago, "about some things that went down in the house I lived in my senior year at college." The lyrics reflect on the outcomes and consequences of choices, lost friends, and what's left at the end of the day, asking "what are you going to do now?". The song came together with heavy sonic inspiration from The 13th Floor Elevators.

The accompanying video was inspired from 80's style MTV music videos, cutting between story-line shots and the band's performance. The band utilized local spots throughout New York City for a DIY approach to further bring the track to life, letting listeners still take their own interpretation

The Electric Mess defy a singular genre, blending elements of 60's garage, 70's punk, psychedelic pop, new wave, and high energy rock and roll into all of their performances. Lead vocals are shared between Biu and front-woman/rhythm guitarist Esther Crow, providing fantastically unique powerhouse of vocal teamwork. The band has a signature sound, yet always keeps listeners on their toes for what's to come.

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Beachtape - Somewhere Better.

Channelling the shifting perspectives we encounter over periods of change, ‘Somewhere Better’ is the latest scratchy, sunny indie-rock gem from Brighton quartet Beachtape. It’s being used to announce a new EP, ‘Bigger Picture’, out via CRC Records on April 10th, ahead of which they’ll be heading out to Austin to perform at SXSW.

The four-piece occupy a similar space to Happyness or Willie J Healey in recourse to the stilted, slacker-Americana of Pavement, Wilco and Dinosaur Jr, with a distinct beach-pop sheen adopted from their Brighton base. Their songs cover the fuzz of early-20s anxiety, a transitional phase of life with peaks and troughs dictated by paradoxical moments of drive and listlessness.

The gradual drift into changing circumstances, and the way this offers pause for thought, is the theme in the cross-hairs specifically on ‘Somewhere Better’:

“It’s about change. The inevitable changes in our future, and reflecting on changes from our past. The idea of something feeling so significant in the moment, but becoming so insignificant over time and vice versa. Our lives in and outside of the band have changed a lot over the last year and we’re all in completely different places to what we may have imagined a year ago.”

Whilst the band’s usual laidback style remains, there’s an added sense of subtle urgency, born out of its last-minute addition to the EP: “We wrote this song the day before we got in the studio and had to get a last minute practice the night before to figure out the parts. It was fresh and unprepared, and was the moment we found the final puzzle piece to this EP.”

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Yusuf Sahilli - In The City.

"In the City" is the first single taken from Yusuf Sahilli’s new album Let’s Do That due out June 5th, 2020. The single comments on consumption in modern society and how difficult it is to break the cycle. Russian animator Gosha Loshadkin brings the story to life by using Icarus from Greek mythology as he battles to make a healthy, well-balanced living - but will he be able to resist the temptations of modern life?

Let's Do That is completed by a video trilogy all animated by Gosha, starting with "Icarus Falling" (21 June 2019) followed by "In the City" (6 March 2020) and finishing with "You're It" (5 June 2020).

“It makes fun of music videos where artists try to show off their wealth with scenes like women in a pool being showered with money,” says Yusuf on the video for "In The City". “The song criticises the bank system that offers loans to people but also shows a society in a hamster wheel working from 9-5, never able to pay off their interest rates. We never see the horizon or the big picture in the city. Everything's fast and volatile. Too much noise. With light pollution now we can’t see the stars anymore. For centuries the saying "looking at the stars" was standing for hope. Especially in Berlin, there are so many contrasts. People try to live healthier lives, there are so many yoga clubs opening up, sometimes several in the same street. At the same time we're seeing more and more pubs and fast food outlets. We live healthily and then we reward ourselves with junk food, cigarettes and alcohol.“

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Brendan & the Strangest Ways - We Can Beat Mercury.

Brendan & the Strangest Ways announces the release of the “We Can Beat Mercury” video directed by Omeri Monroe (Tuneworks Media). Through a talent-show-gone-wrong, the video takes on the satirical struggle of an independent musician trying to find an audience. The single is off the album due out later this year.

As any talent show observer knows, it’s often spectacle that grabs attention above everything else. While Brendan Shea earnestly sings his song of hope and optimism, it’s the spectacle surrounding him that gets the judges nodding their head in approval. Nothing is too over the top: ballet and sequined dancers, kickboxers, hoop jugglers all join the mix.

Shea says, “The video pokes fun at the song’s message. ‘We Can Beat Mercury” was intended to be hopeful, optimistic and earnest.’ The video allowed an opportunity to reinterpret those ideas and tell a story where the protagonist, while perseverent, never gets to overcome his obstacles.”

About Brendan & the Strangest Ways - Brendan Shea adopted the moniker Brendan & the Strangest Ways to create music for the restless spirit. Heartfelt reflections comprise the songs: loves and losses experienced over countless miles traveled in search of something that always felt just a little out of reach. Early in 2019, Brendan and the Strangest Ways broke ground on the sophomore album Are We Sure The Dawn Is Coming? at County Q in Nashville. In October 2019, Brendan connected with veterans of Buffalo’s alternative country scene and former members of the band Bareback Jack: Tommy Bijak (electric guitar), Pete Wilson (drums), Paul Belardi (bass) and Kenny Blesy (steel guitar) to reform the Strangest Ways. The members backing Shea on Brendan & the Strangest Ways have done stints in Nashville recording and playing live. In their previous band, they opened for Marty Stuart and Charlie Daniels.

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The Hideaways - Luminescence.

A combination of raging guitars and driving rhythms alongside dark electronic and subtle trip-hop influences … The Hideaways return with new single ‘Luminescence’.  Produced by Matt Glasbey (Editors, Marmozets).

"I reckon Luminescence is a spot on example of what we're about musically" says frontman Danny Pugh. "When we're writing we always try to stick a few left turns in tunes that might catch people off guard a bit. That's what we wanted to get from mixing the psychedelic, eerie choruses with all the snarl and noise in the verses. Then for the outro we just wanted something massive that'd give everyone a proper melodic smack in the face".

The Hideaways also continue to build their reputation as a ferocious live act, having supported established names like Shaun Ryder and Little Comets alongside sharing stages with such up and coming bands as Fangclub, BERRIES and Football FC.


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Clem Snide - Some Ghost.

Clem Snide, the moniker of Eef Barzelay, shares the new single "Some Ghost" from his first album in five years, Forever Just Beyond, out on March 27 via Ramseur Records/Thirty Tigers. Scott Avett, who produced the record, co-wrote and provided harmonies on the new single as well.  "I have not had much luck over the years in my (few) attempts at co-writing," states Barzelay. "But with this one Avett and I just vibed hard and it came together as quick as you please! We both share a deep respect for the unknowing part of the process. It all starts in the dark but then the door was unlocked all along."

"Some Ghost" is the third single from Forever Just Beyond. The second single "Don't Bring No Ladder" was spotlighted by Nashville's Lightning 100 while the first single "Roger Ebert" was described by Rolling Stone as "a pretty, probing ballad that contemplates the mysteries of life...Clem Snide uses Ebert’s epiphany to make something that is wildly abstract, both relatable and comforting”.

Roger Ebert's wife Chaz even heard the song and wrote on RogerEbert.com thanking Eef for the song about her husband, "I was astonished and moved when I listened to 'Roger Ebert,' the new song inspired by words of my late husband, which serves as the lead track on Forever Just Beyond. If Roger's words in any way served as an inspiration to Clem Snide to not give up, it makes my heart overflow with joy. And Clem Snide (Eef Barzelay), I bet Roger appreciates it too."

The road to Forever Just Beyond, Barzelay’s stunning new album under the Clem Snide moniker, was an unlikely one, to say the least. “About ten years ago, everything just seemed to fall apart,” he explains. “The band bottomed out, my marriage was crumbling, I lost my house, and I had to declare bankruptcy. That started this process of ego death for me, where I realized the only way to survive would be to transcend myself and to try to find some kind of deeper, spiritual relationship with life and with being. Once I committed myself to that, miraculous things started to happen.”

Some miracles were financial (a superfan in Spain, for instance, sent Barzelay an unsolicited thank-you-for-the-music donation that covered the exact amount he desperately owed his bankruptcy lawyer); other miracles were more intangible. Roughly four or five years ago, as Barzelay struggled with how and if to carry on, a fan sent him a video of Scott Avett singing a Clem Snide song in front of a massive audience. Shortly after that, another fan sent an interview in which Avett raved about Clem Snide’s music. It seemed like a sign from the universe. “I had just hit this low point where I realized I couldn’t do it alone anymore,” says Barzelay. “I passed along a little message and a new song I wrote to The Avett Brothers’ manager, and Scott wrote me right back to say what a fan he was.”

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Nicole Atkins - Domino.

During the writing of her upcoming album 'Italian Ice', Nicole Atkins experienced a freak sinkhole accident turned life-altering revelation that led her to a new mantra: “Don’t be a bystander. Take action. Speak up. Make something. Live.” To this effect, the Jersey Shore-bred musician had a bold idea she’d typically brush off as unattainable: fuse the funky strut of her beloved French Electro music with the Italian Ice’s analog-focused Boardwalk Soul. And do it in Muscle Shoals, AL.

Atkins channels this fresh sound and attitude into 'Domino', a genre-pushing mission statement for living fully in trouble times. Citing additional inspirations like Prince and 'Miss You' by The Rolling Stones, Atkins delivers a groove-heavy pop gem with the utmost swagger: “I’m not gonna play / Safe and sound / When the world comes tumblin’, tumblin’ down.” In that respect, 'Domino' is not only the radio single off 'Italian Ice', but the vehicle for its central themes.

Like each of the eleven tracks on Italian Ice, 'Domino' was recorded at the hallowed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with a group of her “best musical friends” – who just happen to be Jim Sclavunos and David “Moose” Sherman of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dap-Kings’ Binky Griptite, and drummer McKenzie Smith (St. Vincent, Midlake) – along with Spooner Oldham and David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Co-produced by Nicole and Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes), Italian Ice also features special guests Britt Daniel, Seth Avett, John Paul White and Erin Rae, and songs co-written with Daniel, Hamilton Leithauser and Carl Broemel.

Nicole Atkins is a songwriter and performer with a fearless and frank style. Fans of Atkins’ previous release Goodnight Rhonda Lee include Rolling Stone (which before named her a “Top 10 Artist to Watch”), Uncut, Mojo, NPR, and American Songwriter. In addition to writing, recording, and playing music, the Nashville-by-way-of-Asbury Park musician is an art school graduate who specialized in wildlife illustration and is an active painter. Nicole has also shared her original artwork with fans through her newly-launched Patreon page, Natkins Funhouse. Fans who join will have access to items from Nicole including hand-designed monthly calendars and seasonal 8x10 art prints - as well as exclusive content like unreleased videos, demos and brand new covers. Step inside the Natkins Funhouse on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/natkinsfunhouse

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Dumpstaphunk - Kacimi & Mécréance - Ellen & Simona - Steven Troch Band - Bandits on the Run

Dumpstaphunk - Let's Do It. New Orleans’ modern torchbearers of funk, Dumpstaphunk returns to the fray with their new single “Let’s Do ...